Gold falls to 2-wk low as dollar rallies vs yen

Oct 23 (Reuters) – Gold prices hit their lowest in over two weeks early on Monday, as the dollar climbed to a more than three-month high versus the yen after Japan’s ruling bloc scored a big win in Sunday’s election. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold was down 0.4 percent at $1,275.48 an ounce by 0037 GMT, after earlier dropping to its lowest since Oct.

6 at $1,273.80. * U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.3 percent to $1,276.70 per ounce. * Japan’s yen hit over three-month lows as an election win for the ruling coalition gave a green light for super-easy monetary policy, while the euro eased as Spain’s constitutional crisis aggravated concerns about political unity in the bloc.

* Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc scored a big win in Sunday’s election, bolstering his chance of becoming the nation’s longest-serving premier and re-energising his push to revise the pacifist constitution. * The Spanish government has urged Catalans to accept Madrid’s decision to dismiss their secessionist leadership and to take control of the restive region, as the nation’s biggest political crisis in decades enters mexican libertad a decisive week.

* The top U.S. Senate Republican and the White House budget director said on Sunday they hoped for action on a Republican tax reform package by the end of the year, while keeping their options open on how to pay for sweeping tax cuts. * President Donald Trump’s tax reform plans won partial support on Friday when Republican U.S.

Senator Rand Paul said he was “all in” for massive tax cuts, but the party was still far from united over how to achieve the main item on its domestic agenda. * U.S. home resales unexpectedly increased in September as the effects of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma began to dissipate, but a persistent dearth of properties for sale continued to weigh on overall activity.

* President Donald Trump is considering nominating Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell and Stanford University economist John Taylor for the central bank’s top two jobs, in an apparent bid to reassure markets and appease conservatives hungry for change. * Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Friday that asset purchases and other unconventional policy tools must remain part of the Fed’s arsenal as long as the economy remains stuck in a low interest-rate economy.

* Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester on Friday said she is comfortable with the Fed’s approach to raising rates gradually, though she herself sees a slightly faster rate-hike path as appropriate. DATA/EVENT AHEAD (GMT) 0130 China House prices Sep 1230 U.S.